Hugh Pierce & Elizabeth Allen married 1825 Armagh

[scruffypup]

Has anyone come across Hugh Pierce of Armagh, possibly Shankill?  One of my ancestors Hugh Pierce married Margaret Hill in 1852 Shankill, his father is noted as Hugh Pierce, I can't find anything about Hugh/Hugh Jr in  Armagh apart from the 1825 and 1852 marriages.  The Hugh who married in 1825 may not be my Hugh's father.  My Hugh and Margaret moved to Huddersfield somewhere between Mary's birth in 1859 and Hugh's birth in 1861.  Hugh's surname is spelt as Pearce on English records/census returns

Regards

Julie

[eileenwilson]

Both Pierce and Pearce seem to be a relatively uncommon name in Northern Ireland as there are few references in the Freeholder Records and no wills that date much prior to 1900.  Have you looked at the actual marriage record which may provide some clues (vs. the transcription at Familysearch).  It should give you the townland where Hugh was from.

Four of their children (two of them named William!) were all born in Ireland, between 1855 and 1860, so finding their baptisms will be useful.  I would try in the Shankill records for those first.

[scruffypup]

Hi Eileen

Thanks for the information.   I don't have a physical copy/image of Hugh and Margaret's wedding certificate, it was the Familysearch website where I found his father was Hugh, Margaret's father is William, you would think with her sister Elizabeth Hill living with them in 1881 this would help pinpointing Margaret and Elizabeth's family too, but unfortunately as you know Irish records aren't the easiest things to find.  I was on FindMyPast while the irish records were available for free, that's where I came across the 1825 wedding, there isn't an image of Hugh and Margaret's wedding on FindMyPast only the details.

I find it somewhat disturbing that Hugh Pearce is 22 and Margaret Hill 21 in 1852 and yet he is born c1836 making him 16 Margaret  is older c1835 so about 17?  Maybe they lied about their ages. It must be them as her sister is Elizabeth Hill, she was living with them in 1881. The chances of a second Hugh Pearce & Margaret Hill seems unlikely, although as I know with Family History anything is possible (unfortunately ) Most of the census returns have Hugh and Margaret born Lurgan, I'm not very good at Irish ancestry so I don't know if this is a help or hindrance.

On the 1891 census Mary Hirst (her 2nd marriage) was born in Lurgan it looks like it says Lurgan in 1911 too, so the family were definitely still in Ireland c1859. I've still not found any of the children's baptisms in Lurgan which does make it frustrating.  I wonder if the 2 William's are cousins one being an illegitimate child of Elizabeth and raised as their own.

Regards

Julie

[eileenwilson]

Your only alternative is to contact the Shankill parish and get a copy of the actual page -- I see you've been looking for several years for more info, but that's where it will be found -- along with the baptisms of the children probably.

[scruffypup]

Hi Eileen

I've come across Proni, looks similar to the library archives in England, it's a shame that you need to be able to visit to access the details, gives me hope anyhow, eventually it will all be available in digital format in England.  It's a shame a lot of the Irish records were burnt, I have several ancestors in both our family trees and anything earlier than their first census returns in England just does not seem to exist anymore.  The vast majority of our ancestors seemed came to England 1840s/50s.

Regards

Julie

[eileenwilson]

You can also email the church directly:

http://www.downanddromore.org/parishes/shankill#.Vth9FPrSkdU

[scruffypup]

Hi Eileen

Do churches in Ireland still keep their archives onsite?  I thought all records would be in a national archives.  Just one thing I think the 1825 marriage was RC, whereas I'm not sure about Hugh and Margaret.

Regards

Julie

[hallmark]

Ahh but which Churches? Not a mention of what religion they were!!

RC registers are online Free!!

[eileenwilson]

The 1852 marriage would be Church of Ireland.  Catholic marriages were not recorded until 1864 in the civil registration.  I'm sure I've seen an older posting where someone else had mentioned this to you.